"She Cranks My Tractor"-Crank it UP

Some things are best suited for certain times of the day...

caffeinated coffee in the morning

nap in the afternoon

jay leno for late night 

gangnam style...after a few drinks

So when I heard that Colin along with Dustin Lynch and the band 

had a 5 am lobby call 

to get over to the "Fox and Friends" studio in NYC 

to play "She Cranks My Tractor"….

I wondered what that would feel like for them. 

I know what it would feel like for me…
cranky.

But when the lights go up…

you turn it on. 

 And they sure did.

I thought they sounded great...

and they

normally don't play for another 12 hours.

Anywhooooo…..

I've found that Dustin Lynch's song 

"She Cranks My Tractor" 

can get me through most parts of the day….

morning workouts, 

afternoon errands, 

evening news.

I've been working on some classic tractor cranking moves of my own.

(The gangnam style has nothing on this Kat.)

So, let's CRANK it up...

watch it here



and get CRANKING. 

Shopping Season Officially Open

Get ready, 

get set,

Survivors, get going...

THE Shopping Season is OFFICIALLY open.

'Tis this season…

that separates the 
wise bargain shopper 

from the

maniacal diabolical 
bargain shopper.

This exhuberant shopper is  

 also in it for the bargains...
but mostly in it for the sport...
the competition. 

"In it, to Win it."

And in order to be a Survivor...

the shopper has to 

outwit, outplay, and outlast

their fellow shoppers.

Let me just say…shopping in these circles ain't for the faint of heart. 

It's hand-to-hand 
nail-to-nail

toe-to-toe

combat.

Between human stampedes and pepper spray ...

you better be battle ready.

(sure gives new meaning to the expression...shop 'til ya drop.)

Anywhooooo.....

Every year the competition starts earlier and earlier 

with some stores (like Walmart, Target, and Sears) 

starting at 8 pm on Thanksgiving.

I'm not sure how anyone has the energy to get up off the 

couch on Thanksgiving.

By 9 pm I'm enjoying the full effects of a tryptophan induced coma.  

I can't imagine leaving a warm house 

and entering a cold brick-and-mortar store 

with steely eyed strangers 
to do battle over

 a television.

worth playing for?

But as "they" say in true Survivor fashion,
 "As long as you have fire, you are still in the game."

Here's an idea that has it's rewards…

why not exile yourself to 

"Redemption Island"

 and let your fingers do the 
cyber shopping.

A "virtual mall" has its advantages…

there you enjoy immunity 
from any challenges 
with maniacal shoppers. 

(Immunity back up for grabs.)

CyberShopper, 
you need to bring me your torch.

The tribe Kat has spoken.

Happy Thanksgiving - Peace, Love, and Tryptophan

It's Thanksgiving

so...

let the calorie consumption begin,

let the belt loose,

and

let it all hang out, baby

I read somewhere that we consume 

4,500 calories for Thanksgiving.

Is that all?  

Thanksgiving isn't just one meal.

Thanksgiving is an all-day snacking event.   

The 3 g's ...

grazing, gobbling, gorging. 

Anywhoooo….

Enjoy the peace  of the holiday …

the love of family…

and the turkey induced coma.

aka

Peace, Love, and Tryptophan

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

(We miss you Chelsea, Colin, Brianna.)

Messing with Thanksgiving Tradition

This Thanksgiving will be a 

"strange and different bird" 

for our family.

NOT the 
Turducken

(ewww…that's another "strange and different" bird.)

But what is "strange" and not the "norm" for us
is that NONE of our kids 
will be home for Thanksgiving.

Say it ain't so, Flo?

Our tribe...
Big C, Colinboy, and Wishy 

are all on their own hunting/gathering expeditions.

Big C and Colinboy will be down south 

and Wishy will be waaay down south...the Amazon River.

That leaves...

Chief PaulA and SquawKat... 

3 hunyacks short 

of a full tribe. 

With a disbanded tribe, 

we decided to do something totally different…

and mess with tradition. 

We decided to change our location and have 
Thanksgiving at the beach...

near Plymouth, Mass.  

We'll be doing our very best to replicate the 
Pilgrim and Indian First Thanksgiving…

minus the loin cloth.

But we'll be thinking of our tribe 
while we have Thanksgiving dinner on our reservation.

(Did someone say we have a reservation?)

A picture taken of the kids years ago in Plymouth standing 
under the statue of Chief Massasoit 
(Indian friend of the Pilgrims) 

is hanging on the wall nearby...
which always brings a smile.

(I wonder if Chief Massasoit brought turducken  

or pumpkin pie to the 
First Thanksgiving???)

Anywhooooo…

This Thanksgiving 
(and every single day) …
we are most Thankful for our Tribe. 

Chief PaulA and SquawKat 

are sending out 
virtual smoke signals from our wigwam….
to 
Big C, Colinboy, Wishy

We miss you.

See you at Christmas.

Coming to a City Near YOU

WARNING:  

brag blog alert…

Sometimes it's hard not to be 

braggadocios.  

BUT

 when "good" things happen to "good' people…

you gotta let it out.

(And by "good people" I mean 

my son Colin, Dustin Lynch, and the band.)

Okay, so last week happened to be a good one

for our country rockin' bass player Colin.

And by "good" I mean

Awesome

Fantabuloso

Supercalifragilisticexpealidocious

The week rocked

with the release of the music video 

"She Cranks My Tractor" 

off the Dustin Lynch CD.

(Nice flow, Colin.)

View the video here...

WARNING:  hot, sexy babe alert

(that usually gets people's attention)

AND

a couple of days later…

Keith Urban 

announced that he will be touring this summer with 

Little Big Town 

and 

Dustin Lynch.

The tour starts July, 2013 in Cincinnati, Ohio. 

( After Keith Urban finishes American Idol and his new album.)

The first leg of the tour…30 dates...have been announced.

Coming to a city near you. 

Anywhoooo….

The past couple of times the band played in Foxoboro, MA...

they stopped by our place at the beach 
for a little diversion from the road. 

(nice parking by their bus driver.)

Eureka...

A cool thought just occurred to me.

Maybe Keith Urban and the fellas would

wanna stop by our place next August 10th 
on their way to Boston.

Should Keith bring his lovely wife, Nicole Kidman, along…

I'd gladly show her some good ole Northern Hospitality.

hahaha...

sure. like something that "cool" would ever happen.

 (I'd probably have to stop saying "Eureka.")

Congratulations 

to 

Colin

Dustin Lynch 

and all the talented musicians in the band.

You are "good" people.

Puppy Love

We welcome Chelsea's new puppy into the fam.

Meet Charlie

(a Portuguese Water Dog/pup)

It's hard for me to believe that I'm already a
Puppy Grammy.  

Chelsea has been talking about getting a puppy

 for about 2 years

and last weekend,

she pulled the trigger.

I respectfully tried

to explain why she should hold off her decision,  

but she came at me with both barrels...

and I ran out of ammo. 

It's not like I don't love dogs.

After all, 

we had Duncandog for 14 years.

(50 Percent Portuguese Water Dog/50 percent human being)

But 

with the Mega love and companionship of a dog

also comes the Mega responsibility and poopy scooping.

I remember back in the day when our kids asked incessantly for a dog.

Finally for Christmas 

Santa delivered them each …

a Gund dog, with a collar and leash. 

 The stuffed version bought us some time...

but apparently Big C isn't buying that anymore.

Anywhoooo….

 I'm very excited to be a Puppy Grammy and

I look forward to spending time with Charlie

so I can spoil him rotten.

But

 as soon as things get out of control..

(NO Charlie...NO barking, NO chewing, NO whining)….

it's right back to Mommy.

And that, 

 is the beauty of being a 

Puppy Grammy.

Good Luck, Chelsea,

 with your adorable

Sweet Charlie.

A Hero's Birthday

Today my father is 81 years old. Already

He must be amazed at how quickly the years have flewn…

I know I am.

But when you look back over all the years 

and the wonderful life he has lived…

you see how you get to age 81. Already.

I am proud to say that

my father served in the U.S. Air Force for 20 years…

and because of that I honor him twice…

on back-to-back 

special days…

Veteran’s Day, November 11th

followed by

his birthday, November 12th.

When you grow up with a 

cheerful, 

gregarious, 

and loving father…

you are the beneficiary 

of a happy childhood.

I admire so many of his qualities…

the least of which

is the virtue of 

patriotism.

My Dad.  My Hero.

I may be considered a “military brat”,
 but if you have to be a brat…

it's the best kind.

So today I salute my father…age 81. Already.

U.S. Veteran

Amazing father

Forever.My hero.

Anywhooooo……

Happy Birthday, Dad

Obama Wins Electoral Vote

The electoral votes are in ….

Obama will be our President 

for four more years. 

It was a long night before the victor could be called.
Obama supporters drank beers celebrating 
four more years....

while Romney supporters cried tears
over four more years.

But whether you were …

drinking beer or crying in your beer…

"The Donald American People" have spoken.

I find it interesting that Americans 

still don't vote directly for their President.  

Instead, each state has an assigned number of "electors" who vote next month.

Then on January 6 their votes are tallied.  

I'd l ike to meet these "electors."

In most states the faceless "electors" 

are required to vote for the candidate 

who won the popular vote in their state…

but not so fast…

not every state follows that law….

sometimes the "faceless"  are "faithless."  

Anywhooooo……..

I remember learning about the Electoral College in high school and I had a lot of questions.  

(What SAT score do you need to get in?

Was the Electoral College a party school?)

When I turned 18 and could vote...

the process of the Electoral College really hit home.  

I never liked that my vote was "bundled" up 

in a block with everyone else's.

So if I lived in a true blue state (history of voting Democrat) 
and voted Republican..  

my red vote would turn blue.

My state through it's electoral votes would vote Democrat.
(Purple would be a nice compromise.)

Of course, the electoral voting process is much more complicated 

than I want to make it…

but it is interesting that

we use a system formulated in the 1700's.  

A time when we communicated via 

Pony Express…

when you had to hope the messenger wasn't 

thrown off his horse, 

killed by a Indian, 

or saddled up too long at the Saloon.

But before we can trust the "Popular Vote",

the entire voting process need to be smoothed out...

the kinks ironed out,

the long lines shortened, 

"chads" from hanging.

Until then...
we'll probably have to stick with the Electoral College…

especially 

if a popular vote came down to less than 5,000 votes

and there were still a bunch of "problem states" out there.

At that point, 

Electoral College 

still sounds better than 

Animal House.

Vote Today

Ahhh. Finally. It has arrived.

Election Day

The great thing about today IS...

we get to exercise our right to vote.

But the VERY VERY VERY best thing about today IS

it's the VERY VERY VERY 
last day …

we have to listen to,

 put up with, 
endure 

political ads. 

woo hoo

Who out there isn't sick/tired 

and had it up to their last shrill with all the ads?

  I don't even want see the ads for the candidates

I'm voting for.

And why is it that we have so many negative ads?

Probably the same reason "The Enquirer" still leers at us in the grocery line...

They work.  

Studies have shown that the mind remembers negative attacks. 

Let's just say...

I get 10 comments on my blog.

(sure kat)

9 out of the 10 comments say: 

"Kat, you are one helluva blogger extraordinaire."

(dream on kat)

And 1 comment reads: 

 "Your blog is like bad bologna…it reaks and repeats on me all day."

(ouch)

So what comment do you think I remember?

The 9 positive comments immediately

go out my blog window…

and the 1 negative comment sticks
to my window like a nasty spitball.

Anywhoooo...

I'm also VERY VERY VERY tired of listening to celebrities who

preach their politics to the public-at-large.  

(who you calling large?)

 I don't care who Barbara Streisand or Clint Eastwood support.

I don't want to Rain on Barbra's Parade…

or ruin Clint's day…

but no singer or actor (or even a singer-actor)

is going to influence how I vote in the election.

So after today…no mater who wins…

let's can come together.

Let's leave the current 
common low ground 

of mud-slinging 

and reach for a common higher ground.

Let's start by saying something "nice."

The "helluva blogger extraordinaire" is all ears.